If Women Ran the World

Menstuff® looks at related stories and information of what it
really might be like if women ran the world. It isn't a particularly
different picture. Editor: There is no question in my mind that women
have been abused by the patriarchy. And, there is no question in my
mind that men have been abused by the patriarchy and the matriarchy.
Therefore, we bring you the following

The answer is yes. But in what way? Do we have wars because men are
in power? Or is it power, regardless of the sex? Let women's history
be our guide. (The photo above has in inset of "one of the ever
popular FARC-ettes" in Columbia and in the top photo, behind the man
in the front row, is another FARC-ette with an automatic weapon that
she looks very comfortable with.)

Women have run many countries and taken them to war. Margaret
Thatcher, Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi, to name some recent ones. How
about Cleopatra? Since women weren't allowed to rule in
her day, she was forced to marry two of her brothers (in succession)
to provide a male figurehead. But she wasn't much of a big sister
anyway. She went to war against one brother and had another executed.
Then how about Isabella who created a country called Spain. She
threatened her brother Enrique, who was king at the time, with war.
When he died, she promptly had herself declared Queen of Castille but
Enrigue's daughter put up a ferocious fight. After years of civil
war, Isabella finally gained the crown. The story goes on, but it is
said that when Isabella's troops went to battle, she was usually
right alongside, decked out in armor, mounted on her horse, and
urging the soldiers on. Of course, while she wasn't the leader of the
country, another women went to war to liberate France, something
countless male soldiers, infantrymen and kings had found impossible.
Joan of Arc. The sagas of Scandinavia's greatest Viking's are filled
with the stories of women who loved a good adventure as much as their
male counterparts. During the tenth century, Alfhild, daughter of a
Norse Viking king, fought in Viking battles dressed in male warrior
clothing. And the Red Maiden, Old Red, was the leader of the most
brutal attacks on Ireland during the tenth century. There's Lakshmi
Bai the Rani of Jhansi who emerged as one of India's greatest
warriors and is now revered as one of the most valiant military
leaders of the famous Great Rebellion. Under the brutal laws of
warfare that governed the plains during the 1880s, no warriors were
more feared and respected than the Apaches. Lozen was one of the
bravest Apache warriors, and she was one of two messengers sent by
Geronimo to negotiate his final surrender. But fighting women were
not exclusive to the Apaches. The Cherokees legendary Ehyophsta,
Yellow Haired Woman fought fearlessly against the Shoshonis. In the
1600s, the Eastern-coast Wampanoag tribe boasted of the fearless
Wetamoo, Squaw Sachem, who led her people in may battles against the
British colonialists. There were "Lady" pirates. Two in
particular were two of the toughest pirates to ever sail the seas
Anne Bonny (the daughter of a prominent attorney) and Mary Read. In
Japan, there were eight different women emperors before 770 AD
Samurais set the standard for the noble warrior class. To make the
grade as a samurai, you had to be strong, disciplined and fearless,
but you didn't have to be a man. Itagaki around 1200 AD lead her
outnumbered troops (3 to 1) into her last battle, riding gallantly
into the battle without a hint of surrender. She died like a true
samurai warrior, with her sword drawn and her honor intact. And Japan
had its share of famous female swordswomen, Itagaki, Hatsu-jo,
Miyagino and Tora Gozen, to name a few, avengers whose paths you just
didn't want to cross. The only female emperor to ever rule China, Wu
Zhao, was the kind of woman you also didn't cross. Having made
empress by her thirty-first birthday, if anyone got in her way, she
simply orchestrated one of her famous "disappearances" which covered
pretty much everyone from household help to family members. Finally,
in 660, her husband was struck with polio and in moment, Wu Zhao put
herself into the imperial chair and went head to head with Korea.
Ordering an invasion by sea, she soon annexed the place to China.
There was Myra Belle Shirley, who earned renown as a thief and
rustler in Texas and Oklahoma in the late 1800s. And she didn't balk
at an occasional murder. Or Calamity Jane, a savvy gambler and an ace
with a rifle who was all woman and would shoot the hat off any man
who said otherwise. Or, in Mexico, where women fought along side the
men, Among the Mexican revolutionaries, the fighting Soldaderas were
everywhere - battling at the front lines, making speeches from the
podiums, and writing the manifestos that would lead to a new future.
Dolores Jimenez y Muro, was named a brigadier general by Zapata and
was one of the key contributors to the framework of the new
constitution in 1917. She still had a price on hear head when she was
nearly seventy years old. During World War II, the squadrons of
Soviet female pilots turned out to be some of the most heroic and
skilled fighters in the country's arsenal. Lily Litvak was the most
legendary and was famous for her dogfighting skills. Every German
fighter pilot wanted to be the one to kill her. In her final battle,
it took eight German planes to take down the greatest lady pilot
ever. Or two women pilots that took on forty-two German fighter
planes on a bombing mission. The dogfight that ensued has become
Russian military legend. Even the U.S. reluctantly had woman pilots
during World War II. The fearless flying WASPS (Women Airforce
Service Pilots), 1074 to be exact. And, though women demonstrated the
same endurance as men, learned just as quickly, had similar safety
records, completed the same rigorous training as male pilots, and
devoted years of their lives to the WASP program, the
US government refused to grant them military status Did you know
any of this? It not, it just may be the Matrix Syndrome. Part of this
is to say that man can be violent. So can women. Man can be warriors.
So can women. Women can raise children. So can men. Women feel. So do
men (and to ask them "What are you feeling" is not allowing them to
feel, but requiring them to think.) What I want to see, in my
lifetime, is that men have the same opportunities in this country
that women have. And women have the same opportunities that men have.
And to stop creating and supporting an educational system that
separates them. Allow women to fight for their country, if they want
to. Allow men to adopt children, if they want to. Allow women to
compete in sports without setting up obstacles (the NCCA requires a
smaller basketball for women than men - which almost guarantees women
who have always used the smaller basketball won't be able to compete
against men). "The Flea" was a runback specialist for the Kansas City
Chiefs and had many runbacks for touchdowns. He weighed 156 pounds.
Allow men to wear skirts, if they want to. (I dare you to make fun of
a Scot or Greek or Turk or Hawaiian about his skirt to his face.)
Allow my grand daughter to win the superbowl, if she can and wants
to, or be a stay at home mom, if she wants to, or be a combat fighter
pilot if she can and she wants to, or complete in the Master from
only one tee, if she can and she wants to, or to be a world class ice
skater wearing pants if she can and she wants to or do whatever her
skills allow her do without any exclusionary rules. Let's open things
up. Everybody gets the same rules. Let the games/life begin.

Well, enough. The information about women warriors came from a
fascinating book to share with your daughter, no matter what her age.
It was written by women and edited by Pam Nelson called Cool
Women. Click
here and Buy
This Book! if you'd like to get your own copy.

How much that you hear out there do you take for granted as being
true because "they said so". Years ago I saw a bumper sticker that
read "Question Authority." Of course. And, I added, "And Question
Those Who Question Authority." Who says anyone knows the truth, or
tells the truth. This isn't about passing on stupid emails that you
haven't verified, but you could consider that. What this is about is
thinking for yourself, finding your owns truths, questioning
everyone, including yourself. "Why do I keep doing that?" And stop
doing it, or believing it, and passing whatever "it" is on.
Otherwise, it's The MS, business as usual, full steam ahead. Staying
numb.

Newsbytes

Menstuff makes no representation as to the accuracy of information
transmitted herein.

Butt-Kickin' Babes of the Golden Era

Check out these inspiring sheroes of the past. Girls Rule!

The Amazon Whisperer (1200 BC)

Lysippe (Lie-SIP-ee) was an Amazon queen and successful general
who founded a great city when she settled her people near the Black
Sea. She established the policies that Amazons lived by. Like many
Amazons, she was killed in battle. Here name means "She Who Lets
Loose the Horses."

Don't Mock Me (431 BC)

Eumache (you-MOCK-ee) was an Amazon who fought in the Attic War, a
battle between Athens and Sparta in 421-431 B.C. When she ran out of
arrows, she kept fighting with a stone. Her name means "Good
Fighter."

Before Disney (589-618 AD)

Mulan was the daughter of a Chinese nobleman. When her father was
an old man, he was called to war, but Mulan knew that he would never
survive. Her brother was too young to fight, so she disguised herself
as a man and went to war in their place.

The World's Worst Shaving Cut (1185 AD)

Japanese heroine Hangaku was known for her strength and accuracy
with the bow and arrow. During an uprising against the central
government, she held off the enemy from a storehouse rooftop. She was
captured after being wounded in both legs by spears and arrows. Later
she defended a castle with only 3,000 soldiers when the enemy
unmbered 10,000. She was defeated and killed, but her name is
remembered to this day.

Source: Miranda Dooley, New
Moon, 9-10/01. Reprinted with
permission, from New
Moon: The Magazine For Girls and Their
Dreams; Copyright New Moon Publishing, Duluth, MN. Subscriptions
$29./6 issues. 800.381.4743 or www.newmoon.org.

If Women Ran the World - The Mother
of Ethnic Cleansing

The television news showed a jovial former president of Bosnia when
she arrived in a fancy BMW to turn herself in to face charges of
crimes against humanity. The Thursday San Franciso Examiner
awarded the War Crime story of genocide less than 10" on page 7. The
San Francisco Chronicle gave no space to the story. I wonder
if that's how they would have covered the story if the President had
been a man. A top-ranking politician in the wartime Bosnian Serb
power structure, Biljana Plavsic was a close associate of Radovan
Karadzic - the tribunal's most wanted suspect from the Bosnian war.
She succeeded him as president after the 1995 Dayton peace accord. As
the first woman taken into custody at the tribunal, the hardline
nationalist is charged with every crime in its
statute: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and grave
breaches of the Geneva Conventions. Plavsic joined Karadzic in
rejecting the idea of a multiethnic Bosnia, fueling the 1992-1995
conflict. Throughout the war, Plavsic backed Serb purges of other
ethnic groups, was seen visiting troops at the front, and became know
as the Mother of Ethnic Cleansing.

Internet Used Against Men

America On Line (AOL) has started a Men's Only Channel as a
counterpart to the long established AOL Women's Channel. This
seems to have infuriated some feminists who are inundating the chat
room and board with anything and everything to keep men from
discussing men's issues. The Moderators seem to be bending the rules
for these women. A double standard, because men's postings would be
removed from AOL Women for far less. It is suggested that, if
you are an AOL subscriber, check it out. If you agree, complain
to the Moderators. If and when that doesn't work, call their toll
free 888.265.8003 and/or e-mail the CEO at SteveCase@aol.com
with your complaints. Also, report obvious attacks or harassment. It
has been reported that this has also happened in the Men's Issues
section on CompuServe. (Editor: We have received no reports of a
similar organized attack by men on the women's boards.) "If women ran
the world."

Misleading Reports - "Lesbians Increase
Violence Against Men in San Francisco"

We received a "press release" in the mail from an anonymous source.
It talked about

"bomb threats...sprayed in front of several male and mixed venues
in San Francisco by a lesbian hate group. As late as November, 1999,
the bomb threats showed lighted bombs ready to explode and 'Lesbian
Avengers' as the source. These bomb threats and other lesbian
graffiti appeared in front of Starbucks (formerly Pasqua) on 18th
near Castro Street, the restored and historic Castro Theater, and
other locations popular with males. 'Dyke space' graffiti also were
sprayed in several locations."

They gave four sources of information and to date we have been
able to talk to three of the sources and the only verification we
have been able to make is that there is a group called Lesbian
Avengers in San Francisco, they do spray graffiti, and that their
logo includes a bomb. There is no substantiation for other claims
that they made any bomb threats, nor called for "death to maleness"
or urged the "castration of all males" as the release goes on to say,
either through graffiti or their speeches at the "Dyke March" in June
of 1999. It went on to say that reports had been released by a San
Francisco commission stating that "1 out of 3 lesbians have been
sexually assaulted by another woman." That cannot be
substantiate either. Furthermore, we can't find any resource that can
substantiate an advertising campaign to reach out to "women raped by
other women." We can substantiate a campaign, run in early 1999 to
all women, including lesbians, that support services were available
for those who are victims of domestic violence. The press release
went on to claim, without support, that the "Dirty Dyke" group and
NOW members who support and organize the parade regularly spray
graffiti on "male turf".

The release also made a claim that "The FBI made no comment about
investigating "female supremacist" groups." Why would
they? That isn't their charter under the law. The release
claimed that "the parade carries signs urging death to maleness and
hate speech against men." We have ordered a video of last
year's parade to see for ourselves. We have confirmed that it is
scheduled to aired on KQED-TV, San Francisco in late June, 2000.

While we know that many women and men carry the same cultural
traits that cause them to lean toward hate, violence and revenge, and
we have confirmed some of the information about the Lesbian Avengers,
as stated above, this kind of unsubstantiated information that many
women and men's groups knowingly release to elicit public support, is
wrong. We hold up the Lesbian Avengers as an example of what some
women do, and we hold up the same for the person who mailed us this
release. Until the information can be substantiated, it remains that
unidentified person's opinion. The reason we have it here is so that
other's who may see this and have seen the other, or heard rumors,
would have a better position in which to make a decision or take
their own personal action.

If Women Ran the World

The cover of Time magazine above answers this question pretty
well. It shows our Secretary of State on a cell phone pushing for
victory in Kosovo. I believe that women would also do what is
necessary to preserve life as we know it. Margaret Thatcher, Golda
Meir and Indira Gandhi are equally good examples. The question is not
whether women or men would be better at running a country, but how
power is utilized. And, it seems when placed in positions of power,
bad women and bad men do similar things. Also, good women and good
men do basically the same thing. They do what is necessary. (See
"Madeleine Albright on Power (and men)" in the August, 99 issue of
More.) Also see "Women: You
Can Handle It!")

* * *
...power is something of which I am convinced there is no innocence
this side of the womb. - Nadine Gordimer